Introduction to the Cymbidium sinense 'Wenshan Jialong' Variety and Its Characteristics
Wenshan Jialong: collected as a wild downhill plant in 1952 in the Beiyi mountain area of the Central Mountain Range in Taiwan, China. Selected and named by Mr. Lin Qingtian! This variety has a peculiar leaf posture, with twisted and highly variable leaf shapes, hooked leaf tips, short and round pseudobulbs, thick and hard leaf texture, dark leaf color, glossy and wrinkled leaf surface, and prominent veins.
More than a decade ago, when I was still a young lad just starting to learn orchid growing, I happened to get hold of an orchid yearbook published in Taiwan, China. This was the first time I owned a trendy orchid catalogue, and the many famous varieties in the book truly opened my eyes. The most unforgettable was a pot of a rare-leaf New Year-flowering orchid with graceful leaf posture, deep green leaf color, and leaves twisted like a soaring dragon - 'Wenshan Jialong'. Although my understanding of orchids was still very superficial at the time, this somewhat bizarre and even ugly orchid stood out among the many famous orchids. Beneath that gnarled green skin there seemed to be hot blood ready to burst forth, straining to break free from the bonds of that small round pseudobulb, making one involuntarily marvel at the wonder of creation. A famous variety like this truly makes one dream about it endlessly! From then on, over countless days, whether visiting orchid exhibitions, gathering orchids in the mountains, or searching for orchids in the countryside, I always kept in mind finding a similar orchid, but always returned disappointed. Later I learned that this family of plants was all in the hands of certain "masters" who did not easily show them to others. But no matter what, the desire to see this king of strange leaves grew stronger and stronger, until one day, at the Phoenix Orchid Garden, I was finally able to see it for myself. Gazing at that life full of power, the only words to describe the feeling were "awe-inspiring." Finally, through the generosity of Ms. Huang at the Phoenix Orchid Garden, I acquired a small plant. At that moment I felt as if I had taken a magical ginseng fruit, with every pore filled with comfort. In recent years, this family of orchids, 'Wenshan Jialong', has shown variations in artistic traits, and crystal patterns have also appeared. Moreover, its flowers are peculiar like a hydrangea, and even more like a dragon spitting pearls, so it is expected to become an evolutionary line with multiple artistic traits. It is precisely because of this that my love for 'Wenshan Jialong' has grown increasingly intense and deep.Wenshan Jialong is a clustered-flower type; when fully open, it just looks like this.
